Aftermath: Gamecock pedigree proves clutch in close win over Georgia

South Carolina reached back into its past with a pair of familiar surnames to accentuate the celebration of the present.

Two current Gamecocks with deep-rooted ties to the school’s past basketball glory were front and center in Saturday’s tension-filled 77-75 victory over Georgia in front of 18,000 frenzied fans at Colonial Life Arena.

The victory lifted the Gamecocks into temporary sole possession of first place in the SEC with a 9-1 conference mark, one-half game ahead of Kentucky, which plays at Florida Saturday night (8:15 p.m., ESPN).

Justin McKie, whose father B.J. is USC’s all-time leading scorer and the best player on the 1996-97 Gamecocks team honored at halftime Saturday for winning the SEC regular season title, came into Saturday’s game averaging just 2.7 points in 91 career games.

But the senior from Irmo drained a back-breaking 3-pointer from the corner with 3:17 left to give the Gamecocks a 67-58 lead before securing the win with a pair of clutch free throws with six seconds left.

His father, currently an assistant for Charleston Southern, must have been proud watching on TV prior to CSU’s home game Saturday against Presbyterian.

Besides being the only scorer in Gamecocks history with more than 2,000 career points, McKie is also ninth on USC’s all-time assists list with 382. He was fifth when he graduated in 1998.

However, according to Gamecock head coach Frank Martin, B.J. McKie’s biggest assist might have come months ago when he convinced Justin to remain at USC and battle through adversity rather than transfer elsewhere.

Clearly, he took the fatherly advice to heart.

McKie averaged just 8.0 minutes and 1.5 points per game as a junior in 2015-16. Understandably, he was frustrated with his lack of a meaningful role on the Gamecocks. He worked harder in the offseason and is now averaging close to 20 minutes per game.

In 21 minutes off the bench Saturday, McKie keyed Saturday’s win with seven points, two assists and three steals.

“I thought it was awesome,” Martin said. “He had some difficult days at the beginning. He wanted to run away, but the McKie who used to make clutch free throws in the building across the street wouldn’t let him. What happened? He was forced to grow up.

“That’s a credit to his family. They didn’t allow him to throw in the towel. Give him credit. He has waited and waited and waited. He has earned the right to play this year. That’s why he plays.”

USC led 64-58 with about 3:20 left when Sindarius Thornwell missed a short jumper, grabbed the offensive rebound and quickly kicked the ball out to McKie in the corner.

Without hesitating for a millisecond, the 6-4 senior with 242 career points rose up and drilled the 3-point bomb from the corner.

Considering the Gamecocks had a new shot clock and were holding a slim six-point lead, Martin didn’t want his team taking a quick shot. But McKie did and he buried it.

“We had just gotten an offensive rebound and had a brand new clock with about (three) minutes to go in the game,” Martin said. “That wasn’t the shot I wanted. I was like, ‘No, no, yes! Give him credit. Then he goes to the line and puts two in the basket when he had never been in that moment before.”

When he stepped to the free throw line in the final seconds with the outcome still in doubt, McKie had attempted just 19 free throws this season and 60 in his career.

He calmly nailed both shots like a hardcore veteran should.

“Today we honored the 1997 team, so who is at the line shooting two with the game on the line, a McKie,” Martin said. “That’s pretty neat.”

McKie, though, isn’t the lone current Gamecocks player with a strong connection to USC’s hoops past.

P.J. Dozier, whose father Perry (1986-88) and uncle Terry (1986-89) both played basketball for USC in the late 1980s, proved his back spasms that hampered him less than two weeks ago, are a thing of the past.

Dozier finished with a team-high 21 points (his seventh 20-point game of the season), giving him 38 total points in the last two games after scoring just nine points in a three-game stretch beginning with the loss at Kentucky, which he missed after painful back spasms suddenly struck without warning on the flight to Lexington.

Dozier’s pair of driving layups within a span of 1:06 late in the game challenged McKie’s triple from the corner for the biggest play of the game.

“I told P.J. at halftime that they are not going to sit and guard you because they’re trying to guard Sindarius on the switches,” Martin said. “When that opens up, drive the ball. In the first half, P.J. wasn’t as aggressive and assertive on his drives. He was coming down the stretch. That’s another step in the growth of P.J. Dozier.”

Dozier could have finished with more than 21 points, but made just 6-of-12 free throws.

“If he had made free throws today, he might have had 30 (points),” Martin said.

NOTES

-- Thornwell and Duane Notice combined for eight 3-pointers on Saturday. Each was 4-of-7 from beyond the arc for a combined 8-of-14. The Gamecocks were 11-of-24 from long range. Saturday’s production from triple territory marked the fifth time the Gamecocks have totaled double-digit 3-pointers in a game this season. It was also the second time this season two Gamecocks netted at least four 3-pointers in SEC play. Thornwell scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds on Saturday, and has now finished with at least 15 points in all but one of USC’s 10 SEC games this season.

-- The Gamecocks were No. 19 in the NCAA RPI entering Saturday’s action, while Georgia was No. 50. As a result, Saturday’s win should provide USC with a boost in the RPI released Monday.

-- USC is now 13-1 at home this season. The crowd of 18,000 represented the season’s first sellout at Colonial Life Arena. USC has four home games remaining on the 2016-17 schedule: Alabama (Feb. 7), Arkansas (Feb. 15), Tennessee (Feb. 25) and Miss. State (Feb. 28).

-- Three of the last four contests between the Gamecocks and Georgia have been decided by two points or less. USC improved to 32-19 at home against Georgia with Saturday’s victory. “These two teams are unbelievable,” Martin said. “They refuse to give in to each other. Again, it came down to the last 20 seconds. It makes for unbelievable basketball games.”

-- After three costly losses to Georgia a season ago, the Gamecocks completed a season sweep of the Bulldogs by a combined eight points. “I don’t have to answer the media questions about them sweeping us this year,” Martin said. “That’s one good deal. I can avoid those questions for 12 months. Before the season started, it sounded like we had never beaten Georgia.”

NEXT FIVE GAMES

Feb. 7 ALABAMA, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)*

Feb. 11 at Mississippi State, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)*

Feb. 15 ARKANSAS, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)*

Feb. 18 at Vanderbilt, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)*

Feb. 21 at Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

(All Times Eastern)

* SEC Game

SEC RESULTS/SCHEDULE (Sat., Feb. 4)

South Carolina 77, Georgia 75

Ole Miss 81, Vanderbilt 74

Mississippi State 64, Tennessee 59

Missouri 83, Arkansas 78

Florida 88, Kentucky 66

Auburn 82, Alabama 77

Texas A&M 85, LSU 73

(All Times Eastern)

SEC STANDINGS (After Games of Feb. 4)

South Carolina 9-1

Kentucky 8-2

Florida 8-2

Alabama 6-4

Arkansas 6-4

Tennessee 5-5

Mississippi State 5-5

Ole Miss 5-5

Georgia 4-6

Vanderbilt 4-6

Auburn 4-6

Texas A&M 4-6

LSU 1-9

Missouri 1-9